A Syrian refugee is treated at Ziv Medical Center in Israel's northern city of Safed. Photo: Ziv Medical Center.

JNS.org – More Israelis die from cancer than from any other disease or cause, according to a study released Sunday by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics. Titled “Society in Israel,” the report found that cancer caused 26.3 percent of all Israeli deaths in 2010, up from 16.9 percent in 1970.

Heart disease was the next-highest cause of death, at 16.5 percent, and diabetes was the third-highest at 5.8 percent.

The same report, however, showed that Israel is one of the world’s top countries for life expectancy, ranking fifth in the 34-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the association of the world’s most developed countries. The average Israeli life expectancy is 81.7 years, a figure that rose by 2.6 years for men and 2.4 years for women between 2001 and 2011.